Woohoo! The big day is almost here. In about 24 hours, dreams will be fulfilled and souls will be crushed. One random click of the mouse will mean the difference between you experiencing 4 days in Comic-Con ‘nerdvana’ or staying at home in July watching re-runs of CHUCK on Netflix. I have to warn you, after Saturday, you might feel like a devastated Seahawks fan on the 1 yard line… times a 100 😦 But hopefully, with some resolve and attention to detail, you will walk away victorious! Don’t worry, I’m here for you. If you are new to this craziness, I’ve outlined 5 steps to ensure your chances to attending the San Diego Comic-Con 2015:

1. The BasicsA reminder of the cost: Adult badges cost $50 per day over the four day event (July 9-12). There is a preview night, July 8, which costs $35. You can get discounts for juniors (age 13-17), seniors (over 65) and members of the military. There won’t be a ‘4-Day’ option and each day must be purchased- and you can’t buy the same two days. Also, in order to get a Preview Night pass, you must buy all 4 single days. In general, just buy everything you can first and figure it out later. Lastly, only one credit card can be used during purchase.

2. Am I Eligible?
While this is called ‘Open Registration’, it doesn’t mean it’s open for everyone. If you did not register a Comic-Con Member ID before last Friday (13), then it’s too late to be eligible for this badge sale. If you have a valid Member ID, then you should have received an e-mail announcing the Saturday badge sale earlier this week. Then on Thursday, CCI sent a second e-mail providing the link to the EPIC registration site. If you did not receive either of these e-mails then there is a problem. If you are Creative Pro or Press and your verification status is “Not Due“, then there is no need to purchase a badge on Saturday. As an attendee, you will be allowed to purchase for yourself and two others- but all people must have a Member ID and qualify for the badge sale.

3. How Does This Go Down?
The registration site will open at 8am pst and will allow entry up to 8:59am. You can come in at anytime during that hour and it won’t affect your place in the line. Coming in after 9:00, means you are out of luck. Once it turns 9a, the waiting room will open and the super Comic-Con mega-computer will randomly order everyone into a cue. This is basically a lottery since there will be hundreds of thousands trying to get about 50k badge. You will probably wait anywhere from 30 mins to an hour in the waiting room. Last year, the sale was complete in a little over an hour. If you are granted favor by the con gods, you will have about 15 mins to purchase your badges. Make sure to have:

All Member IDs

Last names

Registration link (from e-mail)

Registration code (from Mem ID)

Credit card info

An unblemished goat to sacrifice as a burnt offering to the con gods

4. What Days Should I Buy?If you are a first timer to Comic-Con, you probably don’t know what days to go for first. If you planning to attend all 4 days, then buy and ask questions later! However, if you can only pick one or two days, how will you know which to pick?? In regards to the showroom floor, it really doesn’t matter which days you attend. However, Saturday is the craziest so the floor will be at a fever pitch- not for the faint at heart. If you are interested in programming, then know that Friday is the big TV day while Saturday is the big movie panels. So in order of demand, it will go Saturday, Friday, Thursday, Preview Night, Sunday, then first born children. Check out my recent post about if Preview Night.

5. What Are Common Problems?
With 1.21 Gigawatts of nerd energy coursing through the system, there are bound to be a few hiccups. So here are a few cautions to take. Make sure to use a desktop or laptop- not a smart phone or tablet. Definitely don’t try the outdated tactic of opening multiple browsers. This is like crossing the Ghostbusters streams. Whatever you do, DO NOT REFRESH YOUR SCREEN…you will die. Finally, don’t forget to take screen caps of everything as proof. CCI is pretty reasonable. If you have screen caps then they will usually take care of you.

My last bit of advice is to buddy up with two others who are also qualified to go. If you each participate, it will greatly increase your chances of everyone getting some sort of badge type. When you are on your own, odds of getting a badge is like 1 out of 3. If you don’t know of anyone else, Tweet at me and I’ll RT your need out. Saturday’s sale will most likely be the only chance you’ll get. Looks like there will NOT be a ‘resale’ opportunity later. Good luck, let me know how you do, and may the Force be with you!

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36 thoughts on “5 Critical Tips for Open Registration on Saturday 2015”

I thankfully already have my ticket but I could feel my heart pounding and blood pressure rising just reading this post. I love the funnies you put in there though – unblemished goat, first born child. Good luck to all attempting this amazing nerd craze tomorrow. May the Oods be ever in your favor 😉

Since I was an attendee last year, there is an earlier badge sale for previous attendees and thankfully my group of 12 were able to secure tickets then. Otherwise we would have been joining you during this sale.

Sadly I was shut out in the Pre-Sale for attendees of 2014 and now must enter the mix with Open Reg. Luckily I have 20+ plus people working together to try to get us passes. Mostly these are people Ive met at past Cons so its pretty cool! Good Luck to everyone! Misery Loves Company!

Yes- but each eligible participant can register too. So if there are four of you, you can attempt to get 12 tickets. If they are under the age of 12, you will register them onsite for free.I would suggest at least two of you attempt to register for the group at the same time. Makes sense?

I have a question for open online. I have a group of 5 working to get badges. If i get in and enter two including myself. Does the two i entered for have to immediately log out of the waiting room before i enter their member id in? And if they font need to log out of the waiting room can they still wait to get badges for other people?

Good question. No the system is pretty smart and understands that there will be hordes of people doing the same thing. It will process the first one in and then make adjustments along the way. For instance, they can continue in and register for three other people who are also eligible for the sale. You are good.

I think I get what you are saying. If you get through you are just eligible for UP TO 3 tickets but can only purchase 1 or 2. So the only way it will work for us is if at least 2 of us get through. All four of us are edible as my daughter & her bff are both over 12. So here’s to hoping at least 2 make it. None of us have ever been and I have no clue what I am doing! We are hoping & praying to surprise our daughter for her Sweet 16 on March 4th with tickets! Appreciate all your tips!

Ok after reading Dee’s questions I’m confused? So when I am registering, do I do so under my ID only or do I have to choose 2 others in my family to include within my initial registration process? I was thinking we each registered under our own personal ID, then if accepted … we then bought up to 3 passes using our own and two other members IDs? Hope that questions made sense. I feel like I shouldn’t be this confused and am just missing something rather obvious??

I read through the FAQ link you provided & I think I get it now. However, I’ve not been able to find any FAQ or help for the fact that we never did receive any emails about open registration. Thus I do not have a link for EPIC. I have logged into all 4 of our family ID’s and all 4 say we are eligible for open reg? Now I can’t ask my hubby if he got an email & haven’t had a chance to ask my daughter’s friend if she got an email. But I have checked 2 email accounts linked with 2 ID’s and neither got an email?? I even double checked that those email addresses were correct on the member ID and they were? I got the initial welcome email for all 4 memberships? So is the link to the EPIC ticket sales place something you can share with me? Or do I need to contact CCI?

Again, I jumped the gun on my last question. I just need to calm down and count to 10. For some reason, I’m feeling very anxious about this whole process, ha. Long story short, I’m not getting all emails on my thunderbird so having to go directly to my internet provider page and I found the email with a link to EPIC. Also was able to get into my daughter’s email and she received the link as well. I’ve read through 5+ tips & how-to sites and now feel like I get the process for the most part. But still anxious. LOL. Thank you for your time.

Hey so thanks for posting this, it’s been super helpful. Quick question, I’m getting tickets for me and my dad, could I use two computers and be logged on as me on one, and my dad on the other? So say one of us get through, can I still use their code? Thanks in advanced!!!

My wife is already registered, but I was late registering mine. I have a member ID, but is it too late? Would she still be able to purchase my badges as well if my members says “NO CCI’15 Attendee Open Reg”?

Tony, thank you for these tips! I got into the waiting room and got tickets for myself. This is my first time at Comic Con and I am beyond excited!! (and, I didn’t have to sacrifice a goat or my dog or give up my firstborn!) THANK YOU!!!!! You totally rock.

Sorry to hear about that. First off, DO NOT buy any badges from any other source like E-bay, CraigsList, etc. Since badges are tied to your Mem ID, you can only buy them through Comic-Con. There might be some comps gifted out there as guest badges but that’s it. Second, there is a TON to do outside of SDCC. So it’s worth going even if you don’t have a tix. I’ll be posting more on that soon.

Professional registration does not close until April 27th. Until then, Professionals can register for their badges, and currently, there is an opportunity to purchase a badge for 1 guest. (The complimentary guest badges are no longer available.) This opportunity to purchase a badge for a guest may go away at any time, but my normal guests are unable to attend, so I have a unique opportunity to provide a badge that is a legitimate, legal, badge with your name on it. There is no rule about who I can or cannot buy a guest badge for. We can even do a screen-sharing session using Join.Me and I will purchase the badge online, while you are watching, so you know that you are not getting something fake. I may not have real superpowers, but I know I could really make someone out there very happy by making something “impossible” something “possible,” and maybe that’s a superpower in itself. It is a full 4-day Con badge that includes Preview night. If I don’t hear from anyone by Thursday, March 19th, I’m going to just get my own badge. Otherwise, if you are reading this, you could be my guest.

My 6 and 9 year old had their souls crushed when we did not successfully get badges in Open Reg. I wish we would have read this post before trying as we are newbies to San Diego Comic-con. Is there any other way to get badges?

Unfortunately apart from a contest, being given a comp, or working with an exhibitor, there really isn’t much you can do. There has been a return badge sale in the past but they are not doing it this year. So sorry 😦

im the only one interested in going to comic con amongst my friends this year, but they still want to help me get a badge this year. is it possible for me to just give them my info, and pray that they’ll get a “good spot” in line?

The only people that can participate are those that meet the requirements- so they all have to have a valid Member ID. Their ID account will say if they are eligible. So if they are, yes they can help you. I’ll be writing a new post on this soon.